Miniature Polymer Clay Succulents in Tiny Pots

Miniature polymer clay succulents are built petal by petal, and every petal is the same shape: a teardrop. Once you can roll a teardrop and grade it from small to large, a rosette comes together in a few rows, and a tiny pot to hold it is just a ball with a dent in it.

This project makes one rosette succulent in a pot about 3/4 inch (2 cm) tall, then shows two quick variations, a cactus-style column and a trailing plant.

What you need

• Polymer clay in a pot color such as coral, mustard or lilac
• Green or teal clay for the plant, plus a little cream or white for lightening
• A small amount of dark brown clay for soil
• A ball stylus, a needle tool and a tissue blade
• A ceramic tile to build and cure on
• Optional: liquid polymer clay, and an old toothbrush for texture

A single flat green looks artificial. Mix two or three related greens, one of them lightened with cream, and use the palest for the center of the rosette. The method for measured blends is in the guide to polymer clay color mixing.

Make the tiny pot

1. Shape the body. Roll a ball of pot-colored clay about the size of a small marble. Roll one side a little more firmly to taper it, then stand it on the tile with the narrow end down and press lightly so it has a flat base and stands straight.
2. Hollow the top. Press a large ball stylus into the wide end and circle it to open a shallow well. A dip deep enough to hold soil is all it needs.
3. Add a rim. Roll a thin log, wrap it once around the top edge, trim where the ends meet and smooth the join with the stylus.
4. Fill with soil. Press a small ball of brown clay into the well so it sits just below the rim, and stipple the surface with the needle tool or toothbrush so it looks crumbly.

Check the pot from the side at eye level and straighten any lean before a plant goes in.

Build the rosette from teardrops

To make a teardrop, roll a small ball, then roll one side of it between two fingertips so it tapers to a point. If the shape gives you trouble, the article on basic polymer clay shapes walks through it slowly.

1. Roll graded teardrops. Make about a dozen teardrops in three sizes: three very small, four or five medium and five or six larger ones. Line them up in size order.
2. Flatten each petal slightly. Press each teardrop lightly with a fingertip. Succulent leaves are thick, so leave them plump with a soft point, not paper-thin.
3. Form the center. Pinch the three smallest teardrops together by their rounded ends with the points facing up and slightly inward, like a closed bud.
4. Add the second ring. Press the medium petals around the bud, each one covering the gap between two petals of the row before. Tilt the points outward a little more than the center ones.
5. Add the outer ring. Place the largest petals around the outside, again over the gaps, and open them almost flat. Staggering every row is what turns a clump of teardrops into a rosette.
6. Seat it in the pot. Pinch the underside of the rosette into a short stub, trim any excess with the blade, and press the stub into the soil. A drop of liquid polymer clay under the stub can help the join, depending on the product, so check its instructions.

Two more plants for the set

For the column, stand a short green log upright in the soil and press four to six grooves from the top down to the base, turning the pot as you go. Roll the tiniest balls of cream clay you can and place them down each ridge with the tip of the needle tool.

For the trailing plant, anchor three or four thin green threads in the soil and let them hang over the side of the pot at different lengths. Press them lightly against the pot wall so they are supported, because a free-hanging thread of clay is fragile once cured. Add small balls along each thread and flatten each one very slightly so it grips.

Add realistic detail

• Tinted tips. Many real succulents blush pink or red at the leaf tips. Dust a trace of pink or coral chalk pastel onto the points with a dry brush before curing, and test on a spare petal to see how it holds.
• Center lines. Press a shallow line down the middle of the outer petals with the side of the needle tool.
• Pot pattern. Press dots or stripes into the pot with the stylus before adding soil, or wrap it in a thin patterned sheet.
• Gravel. Chop a scrap of cream clay into tiny irregular bits and press them onto the soil around the plant.

Cure the plants

Cure (bake) each plant standing on the tile it was built on. Because curing requirements depend on the manufacturer and the product line, the only instructions that apply are the ones that came with your clay, so follow them exactly. Thin petal tips and pale colors show scorching first. Tenting the pieces loosely with foil shields them from direct heat, and a separate oven thermometer tells you what the oven is really doing. The full setup is covered in how to cure polymer clay.

Let the plants cool fully before moving them, since warm petals can bend or snap.

Display ideas

Three pots in different colors look better as a group than any one alone, especially if the plants differ in height. Stand them on a narrow shelf, a desk or a dollhouse windowsill. They are small decorative pieces, so keep them away from young children and pets. If you enjoyed working at this size, simple miniature animals use the same balls and teardrops and make good companions for a tiny garden scene, and a few small polymer clay pumpkins suit the same shelf in autumn.